To Support Women, Repeal Obamacare

Democrats are observing Equal Pay Day today by promoting new regulations that make labor more expensive and less flexible, restricting employment opportunities for women. Proponents of the Paycheck Fairness Act ignore the fact that actions taken by Washington exacerbate economic inequality - in fact, Obamacare includes 20 new or higher taxes, a handful of which hit women particularly hard.

1. Obamacare Individual Mandate Non-Compliance Tax: Starting this year, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance – as defined by President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services – must pay an income surtax to the IRS. Millions of women have already lost their health plans because they were not "qualified" under Obamacare. While the Obama Administration has exempted its Big Business friends from this tax, the individual mandate tax grows for individuals and families each year it is in effect, amounting to at least 2.5 percent of adjusted gross income by 2016.

2. Obamacare Flexible Spending Account Tax: The 30 - 35 million Americans who use a pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work to pay for their family’s basic medical needs face a new Obamacare cap of $2,500. Before Obamacare, the accounts were unlimited under federal law. This is a very visible tax hike for women, who are most likely to be the primary health care decision makers in their families. This is especially true for mothers of special needs children. Nationwide there are several million families who use FSAs to pay for special needs education, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. This Obamacare tax provision will limit the options available to these families.

3. Obamacare High Medical Bills Tax: Before Obamacare, Americans facing high medical expenses were allowed a deduction to the extent that those expenses exceeded 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). Obamacare now imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Therefore, Obamacare not only makes it more difficult to claim this deduction, it widens the net of taxable income.

4. Medicine Cabinet Tax. Since January of 2011, Americans have not been able to purchase over-the-counter medicines from their Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts. Women often rely on over-the-counter medicines to get themselves and their families through the colds, fevers, and aches and pains of daily family life. To raise taxes on busy Moms makes absolutely no sense.

5. Obamacare 10 Percent Excise Tax on Indoor Tanning: This Obamacare tax increase has the distinction of being the first to go into effect (July 2010). This petty, burdensome, nanny-state tax affects both the business owner and the consumer Industry estimates from the Indoor Tanning Association show that 30 million Americans visit an indoor tanning facility in a given year, and over 50 percent of salon owners are women. There is no exception granted for those making less than $250,000 meaning it is yet another tax that violates Obama’s “firm pledge” not to raise “any form” of tax on Americans making less than this amount.